Very bellicose, with the catchphrase of "怖いか？" (Heh, you scared?). She is often depicted in a way that subverts this, especially when teased by Tatsuta. She is also depicted as a babysitter to the Akatsuki class.

Such a depiction is because despite of her brash appearance and manner, her effectiveness as a ship leaves a lot to be desired, commonly making her part of expedition crews instead.

Despite her real-world counterpart being one of the oldest and one of the most serviced ships; Tenryuu's mannerisms paired with her eyepatch often lead people to depict her as a chuunibyou character, with humorous results.

Named after Tenryu River in Shizuoka Prefecture; her name literally means "Heavenly Dragon".

A Training Support Ship, JS Tenryu (ATS-4203) is in service with the modern JMSDF.

Despite being launched in 1918, she was capable of sinking the USS Quincy with two torpedoes, an impressive feat considering that the New Orleans-class heavy cruisers were at least 16 years newer than herself.

her left eyepatch is reference from one of her searchlight got damaged in Solomon Islands campaign.